Requiem From Horizon
by Noel Harkov
Summary: It should have been enough, but it just didn't end there. When a supposed-to-be-successful operation started to went haywire due to an unexpected large scale attack, a naval base and its surrounding region came under attack by Abyssal forces and soon, occupied. With survival is on stake and confusion started, direct actions have to be taken, for the victory is remained unknown.
1. 01 : Unknown Horizon

**[A/N] : **_Hueh Hueh. 6 months, check back, wondering if I shall write for this after the reviews I received. If yer ever read the reviews and wondered if this shit, I dun know. Eh, dis meh random chunks. Have cringe._

* * *

**01 : **Unknown Horizon

_Where am I?_

That was the first thing that Fukuda thought of when he was finally awake. Lying on a soft cushion, he found his eyes staring at a grey ceiling. His surroundings was dim; there was only the table lamp flickered on the nightstand beside his bed. He blinked confusedly and looked around. It was almost empty. The only thing he could make out were the simple steel bed he was lying on, the lamp on the small plastic nightstand, grey plastered wall and a steel door in front of his view. The door seemed to be firmly shut. There was no window or anything like that. Checking himself, he found that his standard white officer uniform of the former Imperial Japanese Navy was replaced with a simple hospital gown.

_What exactly had happened? Why am I here?_

He didn't really understand about why he was here, lying in a room that looked like a prison cell. All he remembered was explosions, and then a blackout. He knew he was unconscious during that time, but how he was brought to here didn't make any sense. It can't be a hospital room, judging by the barren layout of this room. So, what could it be?

_Am I captured by the Abyssal?_

He ran through his mind, checking whether he was still breathing and kicking as usual. He knew that thinking around wasn't going to help him. His first priority should be organising his thoughts and calming himself down.

_I'm Rear Admiral Nagasawa Fukuda, the commander of 5__th__ Torpedo Squadron and part of 3__rd__ Fleet of the Combined Fleet. I'm just 26 years old, still single. I'm a commander, yes, a commander, commanding those wonderful shipgirls to fight the Abyssal that suddenly appeared and challenged our dominance of sea during this period of eternal peace._

He took a deep breath. He didn't lose his memories, as expected. Then, he wondered, what was his last memory?

_What is the last thing I remember before waking up here?_

Just as he started to flip through his memory, he heard a loud clanking noise. His eyes fell upon the door.

_That was the door's sound…_

A loud click was heard, and the door creaked open. Fukuda gulped, wondered who was it. He hoped it wasn't an Abyssal. He heard some disturbing rumours about some humans who actually became the commanders for the Abyssal force. So, he really hoped he didn't see the rumours to be true.

It was an Englishman, probably around Fukuda's age. Dark brown short hair, hazel eyes, neat appearance, the man was dressed in a plain white shirt and black slacks. Nothing else.

"How are you feeling, Rear Admiral?" the man asked in English, with a hint of Welsh accent. He showed no expression, just a questioning look.

Fukada shrugged, "Feeling fine, just confused. May I ask where am I and who are you?"

"I don't have the liberty to talk about where we are right now, but I can assure you if you follow my instructions, you will be safe. As for who am I, just call me Williams." The man said. "Since you're awake, follow me. I will fill you in later in a suitable place."

Fukuda froze, wondering if he should just trust this man called Williams. He did not know whether this person was a friend or foe.

"Just tell me this, are you with the Abyssal?" Fukuda asked, with a narrowed gaze.

Williams looked at him, and shook his head, "No. Come on, I will give you some food. Just follow me."

_It seemed like I have no choice but to follow… _

Passing through an empty corridor that had only doors, lamps and black walls in sight, he was soon being led into a room that had only a table and two chairs. There was a black plate at one side of the room, but Fukuda concluded that it might be a one-way window. Fukuda felt a bit uneasy once seeing the room.

"Is this an interrogation room?" Fukuda asked.

"Yes, it is. Don't worry, I will cuff only your left hand and your legs to the chair. You have freedom in eating and drinking." Williams said as he pushed Fukuda onto the chair facing the door.

Fukuda felt the urge to escape, but he did not want to risk his life. He did not know the layout of this place yet, hence escaping from here was almost impossible. Therefore, he just let Williams cuff the parts he mentioned on the chair with plastic cuffs. After checking that the cuffs were secure, Williams took the other seat. He just sat there quietly, without saying anything. Fukuda didn't say anything. He wondered what he should do at this point, whether he should start lying or telling the truth if it was related to the recent event, the one that led him here after a period of unconsciousness.

A period of unconsciousness…

"Williams, can I know how long have I been out cold?" Fukuda asked.

"Just three days." Williams answered quickly.

Fukuda eased himself on the chair. _Three days… I wonder if my girls are still fine…_

A beep was heard from the door, and it was pushed open. Fukuda raised his head to see who came in. Much to his surprise, it was a tall, imposing woman in the same attire as Williams, just with a pencil skirt instead of a pair of slacks. What were peculiar about her were her red long hair that was styled with a crown braid at the back of her head and similar red eyes.

Without much words, the woman set down a clear plastic plate that had a steaming noodle cup and a cup of white coffee on it.

"I hope you don't mind, Rear Admiral." She said. "It's the fastest thing I could get for you here."

"No, it's okay. Thank you." Fukuda said, his eyes noticing the sword strapped at the side of the woman's skirt. It seemed to be a English two-handed claymore.

The woman just nodded, and moved to the back of the room. Fukuda looked at Williams, and the Englishman just nodded.

"A man can't work with an empty stomach, right?"

"Yeah. Thank you for the food."

Fukuda started to dig into his meal slowly. He had heard news about how a prisoner didn't receive any food for a week just because he didn't cough out any information to the interrogator back during the Gulf War, hence he decided to eat his food slowly to make sure they digest properly in his stomach. No one said anything, as Williams and the woman watched Fukuda dig into his meal. After a minute or so, the woman left the room. Fukuda didn't ask where she went. She reappeared five minutes later, with two cups of hot tea and a folded steel chair. Both of them drank the tea and the folded chair was placed at one corner for the woman.

"I guess the English love tea." Fukuda commented as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Yes, we do. Tea is better than coffee." Williams said.

"So, you're going to interrogate me with force?" Fukuda asked.

"That's only if you're not cooperative enough _and_ we are short of time. Personally, I don't like hitting people." Williams scoffed. "Only idiots will use those as a means to get someone to talk."

_At least they are reasonable._

Fukuda thought as he put down his fork and set the empty plate aside. "I believe you can start questioning me about what you want right now."

"Alright, I will get down to business, Rear Admiral. For your record, we know who you are and we are not with the Abyssal. That's for sure. Therefore, we require you to tell us the truth whenever we ask you a question. It might take up some time."

"Sure, go ahead."

"I will confirm with you about your identity first. You're Rear Admiral Nagasawa Fukuda, a 26 years old Japanese from Niigata. You enlisted in the Navy five years ago and distinguished yourself quickly to become a Lieutenant by the time of Attack on Yokosuka Harbour, the flashpoint which led us to a war with the Abyssal. You found yourself serving in the Combined Fleet under the command of Fleet Admiral Isoroku Honjo. After a series of combats, you became a Rear Admiral last year, and since then became the commander of the 5th Torpedo Squadron of 3rd Fleet. Your last mission was to command your squadron to assist in the Battle of Katherine Pass from Sasebo Naval District. Correct me if I'm wrong." Williams said, without even batting an eye.

"You're correct. I'm an admiral, a commander of a squadron of fleet girls."

"Tell me, what's your mission at that battle. That battle was handled by the 1st Fleet, with the 3rd Fleet being the reserve unit. So, did things go horribly to the point your squadron had to be deployed as reinforcement or as a support unit to exploit advantages?"

_What should I said at this point? Should I lie?_

Fukuda started to shudder. He still haven't reached a conclusion whether to trust them or start lying. He was aware that lying would do him no good if his story wasn't reasonable or didn't match with their intel. He didnt want to make his position worse than it started.

"… To act as support. My squadron, which consisted of 4 destroyers and 2 light cruisers was ordered to escort another squadron that consisted of 2 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships and 2 heavy cruisers to assist the 1st Fleet who asked for support."

"What's the purpose?"

"For flanking the Abyssal. After we breached through the Abyssal line, we reached the bulk of their forces, but parts of the 1st Fleet had to pull back for resupply. Hence, 3rd Fleet was called in as replacement."

"I see. That matches our intel. We are aware that the 1st Fleet was facing difficulties in exploiting the advantages at that point, so part of the 3rd Fleet was deployed."

"So you already knew that?"

"We needed confirmation. It's better to hear it from a person that was there personally." Williams said. "And? The story doesn't end there for all I know."

Fukuda shrugged, "We… The naval base I'm based in was attacked. An air raid if I recall. We suspected that the air raid was deployed from a gap in our defence. Anti-air batteries had put up a resistance, and it just dealt some damage to our base."

"I see, but there was a second one, isn't it?"

"Yes," Fukuda nodded. "You want to know the details?"

"Exactly," Williams said. "That's what we are missing actually."

Fukuda sighed and started to tell Williams about the whole incident.

* * *

"How's the 5th Carrier Group and 6th Torpedo Squadron doing right now? We need SITREP."

"They're still engaging the enemy, sir! No casualty(casualties) but reports indicate that it's going to take a while before our fleets can return to the port to reinforce the defence."

Fukuda clicked his teeth upon hearing this. The Rear Admiral was worried about the prospect of another air raid. The port had already taken hits. It was bad, but manageable thanks to the anti-air batteries consisting of SPAAGs and SAMs located at the port. From the busy commanding post he was operating in, he could see smoke pilling up from the port. Some transport ships harboured at the port were still burning, helicopters buzzing about, personnel running there and here to evacuate the wounded and more Type 87 SPAAG vehicles were brought in.

"Seems like the Abyssal got us this time."

"Yes, this is bad."

Admiral Shimizu Heihachiro said as he looked out of the window alongside with Fukuda. The 52 years old full-fledged Admiral seemed old and fragile, with his grey hair and old eyes but still having an imposing appearance. Just like Fukuda, he was wearing the standard white officer uniform.

"Sir, should we really leave the business at Katherine Pass to 1st Fleet? I don't really think there will be a second air raid." Fukuda said.

"The forces that came here was just mere recon, trying to probe our strength. The offensive at Katherine Pass was going well, but it was delayed for some reason." Heihachiro said. "I had a bad feeling about it anyway. It felt like they were buying some time."

"Buying some time for what? Our fleet had intercepted what can be said to be the enemy's reinforcements. So, the enemy shouldn't be able to support the forces pinned down at Katherine Pass." Fukuda said, still remembering the recent report about the detection of an Abyssal fleet sailing to Katherine Pass.

"I don't know. Maybe, maybe not." The old man said. "Anyway, strengthening our defences should be our priority. If there aren't any more attacks, I will just send those girls to support the 1st Fleet."

"It will be hard if they come for a second time." Fukuda said. "Most of our AA sites and land-based fairy-operated aircrafts have been taken out. We even had to deploy personnel armed with AA launchers."

"I know, but we have to do what we can right now."

"… Aye, sir." Fukuda said.

"Sir, report!" one of the radio operator at here shouted. "The 5th Torpedo Squadron have reported that they can't find any signs of the enemy's aircraft carriers. They requested to return to the port and reinforce the defence."

Fukuda shuddered. It meant that the possibility of a second air raid was possible.

"Should I give clearance?" Fukuda asked his superior.

Heihachiro thought for a while, before nodding. "It will be better."

"Yes, sir." Fukuda turned to the radio operator. "Tell them RTB, quick!"

Thirty minutes past, and Fukuda's squadron had returned to the port. Fukuda had just reached the port area when his shipgirls had returned from the recon.

"Yuubari, how's the squadron's condition?"

"Oh, admiral. Just fine."

Fukuda can see that the other girls were safe and sound, unstrapping their ship rig for resupply and a brief maintenance. His squadron's flagship, light cruiser Yuubari, saluted to her admiral followed by the rest who caught up later.

"Thanks goodness all of you are fine." Fukuda sighed in relief.

"Of course we are, you idiot. There was no enemy in sight except for a few stray Abyssal fighters." Akebono, one of his destroyers scoffed. "It's a waste of time. Don't you want us to cover your sorry arse here?"

Fukuda just let out a soft laugh before scanned his girls. His fleet consisted of light cruiser Yuubari, light cruiser Yura, destroyer Akebono, destroyer Oboro, destroyer Shiratsuyu and finally, his favourite, destroyer Shigure. He shrugged once looked into the shy girl.

"Alright, here's the current situation." Fukuda started. "According to Admiral Shimizu, the enemy's goal is possibly to weaken our base to support the 1st Fleet and probably to disrupt our fleet's sortie. However, this had failed since we had deployed earlier than they expected."

Fukuda stopped for a while to catch a breath before continuing, "However, Admiral Shimizu believed that the enemy may launch another air raid to continue burning our base down. We can't let that happened. We had lost much of our AA capabilities to the surprise attack. Hence, this is where all of you come in. Just hold out the enemy's aircrafts if there are, and patrol our perimeter. If possible, engage the enemy's aircraft carriers that was responsible for this attack. Is that okay?"

His girls gave positive answers in unison.

"Alright, after resupplying and a short rest, start sorting out. That's all."

All of his girls went back to work after giving off a salute, except for Shigure who still standing at her position. Fukuda just stood there without much words.

"Anything, Shigure?"

"Er… Nothing. Just… will Admiral be safe?" Shigure looked up at the admiral, a worried look drawn across her face.

Fukuda tried to pull off a confident smile at her. Reaching for the shy girl, Fukuda patted Shigure's head.

"Don't worry, I won't die that easily. Just be at ease, help everyone and stay alive."

Shigure just nodded, with a faint smile.

—Then, sirens started to wail.

"_All hands, enemy contacts! Multiple bogies coming from the north! All hands, prepare for AA combat!" _the base's PA system blasted off following the sirens.

"They're here…"

"Shigure!" Fukuda turned his head to Shigure who looked at him with the same worried look. "Don't worry about me. Join up with the rest. I will head back to the command post."

"Admiral, be careful!"

"I will! Just get out there and join the defence!"

Fukuda started to run back to the command post. The sounds of the 35mm cannons of the Type 87 echoed through the air, followed by the zipping sounds of Abyssal aircrafts flying by. Fukuda looked up, and it was a clear mess. Tracers flew up like spotlights and black dots coming down like hawks. Explosions soon followed on and the ground shook. Fukuda just kept running, preparing for the worst.

_Fuck this, I can't just die right now._

—Just at that moment, an explosion happened near him.

Despite not close to get burned by the exploding bomb, the shockwave threw him away. He crashed onto the ground after flying ten metres away. Groaning, his whole body ached followed with a wave of disorientation.

_Dammit… Get up, Fukuda, you know you have to stay alive. You promised Shigure…_

Fukuda tried to get up on his feet as confusion filled the air. Somehow, the bombing intensified and unmistakably, the sound of jet engines' roars screamed through the sky. He managed to get up after a few seconds of trying, and he looked up weakly.

_What the fuck?_

Instead of seeing the land-based fairy-operated aircrafts fending off Abyssal aircrafts, he could see several grey coloured F15 Eagle jet fighters flew by as they tailed something that looked like futuristic black aircrafts. Missiles zipped through the sky as they danced around in the sky, leaving Fukuda stared at the sky confusedly.

_What are those aircrafts? Abyssal?_

He had heard about Abyssal utilising real bombers to attack ground-based facilities alongside with some heavy coastal cannons that could blast off an island off and news about dangerous Abyssal beings that reign on land with their dangerous cannons. However, the usage of real aircrafts by Abyssal forces to counter humans' real aircrafts was unheard of. Only when Fukuda noticed that the combat up on the sky grew closer to ground, he quickly legged back to safety.

—Then, explosion.

This time, it hit a building near Fukuda and the shockwave knocked dusts and rubbles everywhere. In the confusion, Fukuda fell onto the ground, and blacken out.

* * *

"… That's what I encountered. I don't know what happened next." Fukuda shrugged.

Williams just sat there, calmly sipping his tea as he listened to Fukuda silently along with the red-haired woman.

"So…" Williams said as he set his empty cup down. "Can you describe what the aircrafts look like?"

"First, can you tell me whether my girls are alright?" Fukuda pleaded. "If you picked me up from there, you should have news about them."

Williams remained silence for a while before saying, "Do you remember anything else?"

"Tell me about my girls first." Fukuda growled. "I told you already, that's all I remember up to this point."

Williams looked straight into his eyes, and sighed. "Just tell me this, you remember anything related to the ground?"

Fukuda wanted to press forward, but his instinct told him that Williams will not bug out of his questions. Feeling lost, Fukuda calmed himself down as he clenched his fists.

_Anything else? I just blacked out and that's all._

"… There is."

"Hmh?"

"But it's fuzzy." Fukuda said. "Promise me, tell me how you pick me up and where's my girls after I tell you this."

"Sure, that was my plan anyway."

_Fucking arsehole._

Fukuda groaned before started to speak. "I caught a glimpse. Blurry, feeling pressed, but I think I saw black figures and hear gunfire. Not sure why, neither I know what exactly happened when I was blown away. However, I think maybe Abyssal started to crawl into the port and the people at the base opened fire. Maybe. Just that, it was just a glimpse before I passed out."

Williams just nodded, hummed a while before saying, "Thanks for that information. I wanted to ask you about that last unanswered question of mine but I will fulfill my promise first."

Williams cleared his throat before started to speak. "I'm afraid I don't know about your girls' status. We've lost comms with Sasebo Naval District after that attack. That air raid was a large-scale, a deliberate annihilation."

Fukuda's eyes widened.

"Are you serious?"

"We actually picked you up from an ambushed convoy. You was in a medical truck, lying flat with wounds. Most had died, and you was just barely alive. Before we could even pry further into the destroyed naval base itself, we have to retreat after encountering… Abyssal ground units. That's all I know."

Fukuda shuddered. He was lost in words.

"Sir Williams, if I may speak."

The woman suddenly spoke.

"Granted." Williams said.

"We shall end the questioning here." The woman said. "He's in shock."

Williams took another glance of Fukuda before sighing. "True. I didn't want to give him a shock. Admiral Nagasawa, we will end the questioning here for now. I will ask you about the other details on a later date."

Fukuda's mind was still running wild. He was scared, and worried about his girls, especially Shigure whom he viewed as an important person, even like a lover. The red-haired woman dragged him along to lead him back to his cell. The whole journey was quiet, without any much words except for the sound of their footsteps.

"We're here." The woman said as she unlocked the door.

Fukuda just nodded without much words as he stepped in. His heart clenched.

_I really wanted to rush out there now… to find the others…_

"Rear Admiral."

Suddenly, the woman called him. Fukuda turned his head with a quizzical look.

"Anything?"

"About the shipgirls you mentioned, I think they're alive."

Fukuda's eyes widened. "Really? But I heard—"

"We picked up their emergency beacons. They were on land, and it's possible to recover them. I will inform you if I receive news about them."

"… Thank you." Fukuda said. "Do you have any reason for doing this?"

"Not really. I understand your feelings. The feeling of fearing that your comrades are going to disappear just like that."

Before Fukuda could continue their conservation further, the door was shut tight. A loud clang followed on, leaving Fukuda alone in the cell.

"Did you really need to tell him about that?"

The woman turned her head and found Williams frowned at her. The woman, maintained an expressionless face, walked away. Williams followed on.

"I just told him that for the ease of questioning, sir."

"I didn't want to get that kid's hopes high, Monarch. If we can't recover those girls, he will be fucked for his entire life."

The woman, Monarch, shrugged, "Anyway, do we have news from Crossroads?"

"Operation Jefutty Garden is on the way. We will get news soon."

Monarch didn't say anything, leaving Williams sighing at the back.

"Sir," Monarch suddenly speak out as they neared the exit of the interrogation area. "When is my fleet ready to go?"

"Eager to sortie?" Williams grinned.

"I want to sink those bastards, sir." Monarch said coldly. "Telling a battleship to miss a battle is like telling her to just sit down and enjoy tea for the rest of its life. The rest will not take it well either."

Williams just laughed. "Don't worry, I heard that your fleet will be seeing action soon. Send my regards to Victorious and the rest."

"I will."

Monarch continued walking, leaving Williams smiling at the prideful woman.

"Guess things really hitting the fan…"

* * *

**[A/N] :** _Thanks for reading cringe._


	2. 02 : Night Sky

**[A/N] : **_Ey, continue to cringe. I fucked by Floor 6 First Phase at this moment and farms at somewhere, so I will continue._

* * *

**0****2**** : **Night Sky

_Where am I?_

That was the first thing that Shigure thought of when she was finally awake. Her mind was still fuzzy, her body was numb but nevertheless, she tried to raise her body. She felt the urge to move and knew what that meant.

_I have to check with the Admiral first..._

The black-haired girl coughed. She remembered explosions and gunfire that happened to her surroundings, but how long had it been? She remembered that her squadron had the order to sortie out to reinforce the anti-air defence of the base, but then, the port got attacked.

They never had the chance to go out into the sea and she was here, trapped, unexpectedly knocked out.

Shigure finally got up after moving a large piece of rubble off her. Taking rapid breaths, she looked around and was shocked to see the scene. The rubbles smouldering with smoke, hanging burnt metals, wrecked vehicles and dead bodies lying around, she just felt that her heart tightened.

_Is the Admiral safe?_

It's always been her personality to regard everyone as 'close'. It was her personality, no, a curse to be accurate. After all, a shipgirl was a reincarnated warship in the form of a girl, hence all of their history from the first day their keel was laid down to the point where they reached the bottom of the sea were all engraved in their mind. For Shigure, the worst thing was losing comrades, and failing to keep her promise to protect the others.

A sudden burst of gunfire brought Shigure's wandering mind back to reality. It was from afar, but it was clearly gunfire. Hearing it made Shigure cower. Judging by her surroundings, everything seemed to be a mess. What should she do, she thought to herself. Her eyes caught the display on her watch, and she decided to check it.

It was 1903 hours, 7 hours since the last time she remembered being conscious.

_Has it been that long already?_

Deciding that it was best to start moving and relaying to anyone that she could reach, she searched the ruins of the port for her rigging. That was her only means to protect herself. Even on land, ship rigging was still reliable and powerful to be used against any forms of enemies, especially the Abyssal. She found her rigging, buried under some rubble. Clearing them and sorting her rigging out, she was relieved to see that most of them were still intact despite some dents right and left.

_There's still ammo in them…_

Her 127mm main cannons were still functioning, including eight of her 610mm torpedo tubes mounted in two separate launchers and anti-air armaments. The engines were fine, which meant that she could sail on sea with what fuel she had left. Still, she doubted that she could refuel in this situation, or even sail out there.

_It would be suicidal…_

She tapped into her communication unit, hoping that someone would hear her.

"Sasebo CP, this is Shigure of 5th Torpedo Squadron of 3rd Fleet. Does anyone read me, over?"

No answer. Just static.

"Does anyone read me, over?"

No answer. Shigure started to fear the worst. Was the whole region abandoned? Did the air raid become so intense until the whole region had to be abandoned?

_I really hope that's not the case…_

"_... Shigure, is that you? This is Ushio from 7th Torpedo Squadron! If you hear me, please reply, over!"_

There was static in the comms, but there was no doubt it was someone Shigure knew from the other side.

"Ushio, I hear you! What happened to the base? Do you know where's the rest?" Shigure started to ask. There were many questions forming in her mind but she decided to ask the most urgent first.

"_Thanks goodness, there's someone here… I don't know... I just found myself here, washed ashore after a dive bomber hit me. It was… terrible. I really don't know… I can't reach command either."_

Despite hearing the calm voice from Ushio, Shigure could hear her sobbing between sentences. She must be scared, Shigure thought.

"So… the whole base was abandoned?"

"_I think so… I picked up gunfire and enemy aircrafts flying by… Can we link up?"_

"Of course. Where are you?"

"_... I'm hiding in one of the offices in the main command building… Erm… I think it was Admiral Nagasawa's office…"_

_Admiral's office…_

"Do you see Admiral anywhere?" Shigure quickly asked.

"_Er… No. I didn't see him anywhere." _Ushio stammered a bit.

"The command post? Have you checked it?"

"_Yes… But no one was there. No… corpses either. Anyway, can you come now? I'm scared… I mean, my rigging is blown."_

Shigure's mind relaxed a bit. That meant that the possibility of him being alive was still high.

"Just calm down, I will be on the way. Just wait for me. I will give you a call when I reach there."

Closing the comms, Shigure gave her surroundings one last look. She didn't see any of her teammates, not even a body. While she was relieved because she didn't see them, she was worried of whether they were still alive somewhere or not.

_I hope it's not the latter… _

A small drop of water was enough to make Ushio go pale. The shy, soft spoken girl with long black hair was still cowering in fear under the office desk in Admiral Nagasawa's office since two hours ago. The office was still tidy but it had a sense of abandonment. No one was there besides the defenceless Ushio hiding. Her eyes were already red after an hour of sobbing, thinking that she was already abandoned by her commander and that no one would come to rescue her.

She don't want to be captured by the Abyssal after all. Hearing all those rumours about them eating humans or shipgirls alive almost make her numb

_Just when Shigure is going to arrive…_

She was lucky to be able to reach Shigure, one of the most famous destroyers to be fielded against the Abyssal. Skilled, smart, dedicated, Shigure of Sasebo was widely known as a good frontliner. So, at least, in Ushio's mind, having her by her side would at least calm her down.

Just as she thought about it, a transmission came about.

"_Ushio, are you still there? I'm already here." _Shigure said in the comms.

"Ah…" Ushio stammered. "Okay…"

The door creaked open and Ushio inched her head out, eyes on the door. Standing in the doorway was a ragged Shigure, a tired smile on her face upon seeing Ushio.

"Ah, Ushio, good to see you. How-"

While starting to burst into tears, Ushio ran forward and hugged Shigure who was caught off guard to see Ushio crying in her clothes.

"... I thought everyone… had left me alone here… " Ushio said, while sobbing.

Shigure just shrugged and patted her, "At least we have each other now."

It took some time for Shigure to finally calm Ushio down. The girl just sat at one corner as Shigure poked around, trying to see if there's anything she could use or gain information from.

"Ushio," Shigure started as she opened one of the cabinet files. "Do you have any new information?"

"No…" Ushio said. "I can't reach anyone, neither information link is working. I don't think this region is still viable for us."

Shigure winced. She knew that for a fact, but hearing it again was like reminding her that it wasn't just a bad dream.

"... Then we have no choice but to start moving away from here." Shigure said as she took a file out.

"How?" Ushio raised her eyes. "We don't even have escorts. My guns are broken, and I have only you."

"Then we'll get them from the armoury." Shigure said as she kneeled beside Ushio. "Look at this."

Ushio looked down at the thing Shigure was holding. It was a map marked with unit labels prior to Operation All Pins, or what was commonly known as the Battle of Katherine Pass later on.

"We assumed that the enemy had taken the region around Sasebo Naval District. Even if our defence was broken, the ground forces should have been fending them off from the absolute defence line. Our best bet will be going eastward to there."

"Are you sure?"

"It's our only choice." Shigure said as she folded the map into her pocket. "Come on, let's check out the armoury first. We don't have a lot of time."

* * *

It was already dark outside. The night sky was filled with stars, and it was all quiet in the area around Sasebo Naval District. Occasional gunfire and aircrafts flying by could be heard, but none of them concerned the two shipgirls who were probing the armoury in the base. Shigure had her cannons, but they were too high-profile to be used against Abyssal infantry, if there were any, so from the corpses lying around, she got herself and Ushio Type 89 assault rifles along with several magazines.

"Do we really need these?" Ushio asked timidly as Shigure peeked into the armoury's entry.

"It's better to have one, I believe. You don't even have a weapon."

"Yeah, but…"

"Clear."

With her Type 89 raised up, she did a quick turn and entered the armoury. Ushio followed on, with her Type 89 trained at the back to cover Shigure's rear. Despite her timidness and them being shipgirls, they had at least the most basic training about rifle usage. It was mandatory for armed service members to be trained to use one and learn the basic of fireteam-level tactics anyway.

_Never thought I would be practicing this now… _

Shigure finally lowered her rifle after making sure all corners of the messy armoury are cleared of any hostiles. Ushio followed on, and felt a bit worried. The armoury was in a state of disarray, with many shelves and boxes littered around, empty or filled with only pieces of equipments and supplies. Blood splatters and corpses of dead servicemen were everywhere. Worst still, it didn't look like those men died in a peaceful manner judging by their torn body parts.

Ushio covered her mouth once the urge to vomit reached her. Shigure only winced, wearing a grimace on her face.

"This is bad…" Shigure muttered as she scanned around.

"Ueekkk…"

Shigure turned around and could only see Ushio kneeling down, trying to control her nausea as she coughed at one side.

"Ushio, you're okay?"

"Um…"

Ushio tried to sound fine but Shigure knew it was other way round.

"... Just cover my rear. I will try to see if there's any spare cannons or supplies we can use."

"... Okay. Be careful."

"I will."

Shigure started to search around for supplies, also checking the bodies to see if they had anything useful. Checking their wounds, Shigure could see that they seemed like bite wounds, or like chunks were torn from the bodies.

_The rumours about them eating humans up are true I guess…_

Shigure shuddered. It was not something she wanted to know right now, especially when Ushio was just behind her. She knew that Ushio was a good girl, clumsy but kind. Seeing this kind of mess would just get her scared. Shigure decided to carry on and gather whatever she could get.

Twenty minutes had gone by when she got back to Ushio, who was gazing out at the empty scenery by the doorway. In Shigure's hands were two black assault packs.

"There wasn't any spare cannons around. I will lend you mine." Shigure said as she handed one of the packs to Ushio. "Inside, there's a blanket, some food and water along with several emergency kits."

"Thank you." Ushio muttered as she took the pack.

Shigure unstrapped one of her handheld 127mm cannons and handed it to Ushio, who nervously took it and strapped it onto herself.

"Is the neural connection working?"

"Yeah, it works just fine. A bit of calibration and I will be able to use it just like the one I commonly use."

"That's good to hear." Shigure smiled as she slung her pack beside her bridge unit. "Come on then, I think it's best we get out of here before the enemy starts to occupy this base."

"Okay."

As both of the girls went out into the deserted compound, Shigure started to grow worried. Up to this point, she didn't see any signs of enemies. Did they retreat to the sea or go further inland? Whatever the reason was, it didn't change the fact that she and Ushio had to escape from here.

"We will be keeping radio silence." Shigure said once they got to the main entrance of the base. "If the enemy spots us, we won't be able to escape."

"Okay…" Ushio nodded. "Can we make it?"

"We don't have much of a choice." Shigure shrugged.

* * *

The city of Sasebo, modelled after the real-life Sasebo City in Nagasaki, Japan, was regarded as one of the important cities of Kanto Area. Having a sizeable port at the southern side, it was also an important frontline naval base for the Kanto Combined Maritime Defence Corps, which was widely known as the Combined Fleet.

Now, the once busy city had been reduced to darkness and confusion, with the streets being deserted. Wreckages, dead bodies and signs of destruction were everywhere. Then, there they were, the Abyssal. Those black figures, some with white exterior shells and glowing blue or red eyes were patrolling around. Some were human-sized but most just looked like deformed monsters. They were clearly patrolling the region which they had captured, and were rooting out any survivors.

Hiding behind an abandoned Type 90 main battle tank, Shigure shouldered her rifle at ease, eyes tailing the group of four Abyssal infantry that were looking around. Ushio was beside her, keeping Shigure's rear guarded. Shigure had flipped the safety of her rifle off, and prepared to fire if they were ever spotted. Luckily, they weren't. The Abyssal units had decided to move on, leaving the girls at ease.

"They're gone…" Shigure tapped Ushio's shoulder. "Move up."

Ushio just nodded and stuck to Shigure's back. Both of them moved up the dark street, constantly looking left and right with their rifles.

"This seems bad…" Ushio commented after noticing there were a lot of destroyed military vehicles and dead bodies.

"Just keep on moving. We need to find a suitable place to rest." Shigure said, not wanting to think about it.

_Yes, our first priority is to get out of the enemy's hands._

Hiding away from the enemy, moving quietly, constantly praying, that was what they did until Shigure decided to stop at an office building. Covering each other, the girls moved up onto the second floor of the office building before turning into the hallway. The lamps were flickering, seemingly desperate to keep themselves alive. Shigure moved up slowly and carefully, her Type 89 trained up with Ushio following her back.

"Ushio," Shigure whispered. "We will check the area around here."

"Sure."

"Shall we split up? It will be better."

At this point, Shigure wished she didn't mention it. Ushio immediately froze, and looked at Shigure with dead eyes.

"Er…" Shigure stammered, quickly finding words for herself. "I mean… nevermind, let's stick together. We'll check each corner."

Their trip in the office was relatively quiet, as both of them were cautious about their surroundings. Checking through rooms of desks, papers and files, they tried to keep their calm. Shigure constantly turned her eyes onto Ushio, who nervously checked each corner with her flashlight mounted on her rifle.

_I hope she will be fine…_

"I think it's all clear." Ushio muttered as she lowered her rifle.

"Yeah…" Shigure said. "Find a place to rest then. I will check around to see if there's anything useful."

Shigure walked away, strolling around the quiet office. Sometimes, she would just pat some random tables, sending papers fluttering around. As she did so, her eyes fell onto a picture frame.

_Someone's family, I guess…_

She felt an unpleasant feeling growing in her stomach.. Was it the Combined Fleet's fault because they didn't manage to hold the Abyssal force back? They did what they could, yet this happened suddenly.

_Come on, Shigure, don't think about it._

―_Tack_.

A soft sound, but Shigure heard it and did not like it. Her heart tightened as she raised her gun. Hovering the barrel on the door that housed that sound behind it, she slowly moved up her way to the door.

_I hope it's just a cat or something…_

Shigure reached out for the doorknob with her free hand, her finger ready to pull the trigger, and twisted it slowly. Flinging the door open, Shigure shouldered her rifle tight and moved in.

―Empty.

The storeroom that was filled with shelves of boxes and files, was empty and dead quiet. Shigure glanced around, her finger still tapping on the trigger softly. Moving slowly and quietly, she looked through each corner that she might miss. Taking slow, deliberate steps, her focus was entirely at the front. The feeling of adrenaline pumping through her body became more apparent.

―A sound, again.

This time, it was more clear, and it sounded like something had fell. Swiftly, Shigure turned her body to the noise with her rifle aimed. Her finger almost pulled the trigger, yet she didn't because all she saw was just a white cat. Small and cute, the cat was a bit shocked to suddenly see that Shigure was staring daggers at it. Quickly, the cat bolted away, leaving Shigure alone standing there. Sighing with relief, Shigure lowered her rifle.

_So… it was just a cat…_

Shigure let out a faint smile as she looked at her palm. It was all scarred.

_Maybe I was just being paranoid…_

"I was lucky it wasn't something worse…"

Just as she said that.

"Ara~ I don't think so~"

Her instincts raced. Shigure turned around in surprise and everything went white.

* * *

Gazing out the window, Ushio could see that the full moon was bright. The sky was clear and it was all quiet. There was no occasional gunfire anymore. Seeing this had calmed Ushio down, a bit.

_I wonder why are we on the run… Just what went wrong?_

Everything was supposed to be fine. After all, the assault on Katherine Pass, the island chain at the south of Kanto Area which had became an Abyssal stronghold had been going well. Everything was happening in their favour. Then, suddenly, like a domino show, everything went tumbling down.

She felt her heart clench.

"... Let's forget about it…" Ushio muttered. "Where's Shigure by the way, she's taking a long time…"

Exiting the room she decided to use as the place for them to rest, she looked around the dark office. No one was in sight.

… _Shigure wouldn't abandon me, would she?_

Ushio shook her head.

_Come on, believe in your friend! Shigure wouldn't abandon you. If not, she wouldn't have come and picked me up in the first place._

Still, she wondered, where did Shigure go?

Just as she thought about that, the ground shook. Caught off guard, Ushio was thrown aback. She lost grip of her Type 89 rifle, which clattered off the floor. Dust kicked off, debris flew everywhere and Ushio landed against a wall. Coughing from the dust, Ushio slumped onto the floor as she struggled with her senses.

_What… What happened? Did the enemy spotted us?_

She raised her eyes and they widened. In her sight, there was Shigure, catching her breath rapidly as she recovered her stance after being blown away with both of her 127mm cannons, which stored at her back, were already unslung. Then, the front, there was a woman.

It didn't take long for Ushio to register who was that woman.

_An Abyssal?_

Wavy long white hair with a black headband like crown, pale skin, red eyes, black dress, slender-looking, that lady who was standing there, smiling big-time was clearly an Abyssal just by her appearance. The existence of a huge, menace-looking red eyed beast with impressive looking scales only reinforced that fact.

And, worst still, it wasn't a mere Abyssal. It was a Demon-type Abyssal.

"Hehe~ I never expected to see shipgirls during my little _personal _tour. Guess I'm in luck today~" the woman smiled, hinting a bit sense of sadistic as she swung a rapier around. The beast behind the woman growled deeply.

"Dammit!"

Shigure quickly pulled out the only M84 stun grenade she had, unpinned it and flung it to the woman.

A bright light flashed out.

Ushio's eyes reflexively closed as she used her arms to shield her eyes. Just as Ushio regained her sight, she saw a hand grabbing her. Quickly, Shigure pulled her away and started to run.

"We have to run now!" Shigure shouted as she pulled the surprised Ushio away.

"Wha- What happened? An Abyssal? And, on top of that, a Demon-type? How did it get here?" Ushio asked, clearly confused by the sudden turn of event.

"I don't know!" Shigure yelled back. "That's clearly bad news! We have to get onto the streets first!"

Shigure grinded her teeth. It was clearly a Demon-type Abyssal. Those kinds of Abyssal were rare since they usually only appeared when their home base at sea was attacked. Shigure clearly understood that this Abyssal was a whole different story than those that were previously mentioned.

Just as they reached the outside of the office building and turned to the street, a voice was heard.

"Ara~ You kittens, it isn't nice to run away especially when introductions are not done yet~"

_That voice!_

Shigure braked, swung her cannon around and opened fire. An explosion erupted, sending shockwaves around as Ushio grabbed onto Shigure. Dust covered their view of the street, but Shigure's eyes never left a certain point. Once the dust cleared, the woman was there, smiling and standing elegantly there with her blade at ease.

"I thought I had eradicated most of you scraps at the raid, but I guess not." the woman smiled. "Oh, where are my manners? Nice to meet you, scraps, I'm Remily, the First Admiralty Lord of Hereford Badge."

Like a true English lady, the woman who called herself Remily bowed, still having her sadistic smile.

"What do you want, you Abyssal scum? Just state your business or I will simply blow you away with my own hands." Shigure growled, her cannons trained on the woman, loaded with AP shells alongside with Ushio who nervously handled her own cannons.

"Heh~ You shipgirls' confidence never fail to amuse me, as always. Well, I didn't really mind turning both of you into scraps but, let's see, maybe you can come with me instead? I will spare your lives. After all, both of you make good maid materials after all~"

"Do you think we will obey you?"

Shigure said, but clearly shivered a bit after hearing 'good maid materials' from Remily.

"You should consider yourself lucky~" Remily smiled further as she put her finger near her lips. "Don't say I didn't warn you. You're lucky that you met me, the grand Remily who is far more reasonable than those fellwos from Ironbottom Badge. Come on, I hope we can proceed without wasting much time."

"Ushio." Shigure whispered to the nervous Ushio. "Run after I fire."

"Wait, what?"

"I will hold her off."

"Don't be ridiculous! Without support, even you can't handle her!"

"Just do it! We don't have a choice!"

Ushio stammered once seeing Shigure's glaring eyes. Remily, meanwhile, was not impressed by the fact that the two shipgirls did not heed her words.

"Well, it's limb cutting I guess." Remily said. "Fredrick!"

Out from the office building, the big monster akin to a mythological beast broke through the wall and jumped right behind Remily. Its landing impact was so powerful that it almost wrecked the entire tar road.

"Come on, kittens, I'll give you some time before I actually set my pet against you."

Shigure didn't budge, her cannons readied and trained at the woman. Ushio could only looked at Shigure worriedly.

_Am I going to die here? Is there anything I can do?_

Shigure thought, her legs trembled, along with her arms. It was hard to keep her composure.

… _At least if Ushio makes it, even if I die, I will just think that this is my way of atoning for my sin… _

―A flash.

Even with her improved sight, Shigure could barely see what hit the Abyssal beast behind Remily. It was sudden, unexpected, quick, an explosion flashes out at Remily's position, kicking dust out again. Shigure quickly threw herself to shield Ushio from the incoming shockwave.

"What- What just happened?!"

Shigure didn't answer Ushio's question. Personally, she was also confused by the event.

As everything died down, Shigure returned her gaze to the Abyssal woman, and noticed that she was unscatched, but clearly beaten a bit. The monster behind her had a huge gaping hole in its torso before spewing blue blood out and slumped onto the floor.

"I guess we have a princess here…"

Shigure turned her attention to her right, following the Abyssal woman's gaze.

Standing alone on the other side of the road was a girl. Shouldering on her left shoulder was a large rectangular device, the opening was still smouldering. Dressed completely in tactical black combat gears and clothing, the dark brownish-haired girl was standing there, with her eyes falling dead on the woman.

"... It seems like this whole mess was your doing, Remily."

"And here we meet again, Miss Commander~" Remily grinned, feeling amused as she turned to the girl. "Really, you guys a pain in the arse. Can't you just leave me alone?"

"Just get out of my face and leave them to me. How does that sound?"

Remily chuckled as she shook her head. "Whatever. You think I will just walk away like this, especially after you punched a hole through my dear Fredrick?"

"And do you think I really will let you leave alive if you take those two away?"

Both the woman and the girl glared at each other coldly for some time, as Shigure and Ushio looked on. At that moment, Shigure realised something.

_That woman… She's holding something at the back… _

Grabbing Ushio, Shigure started to make a run for it away from the girl in black. Remily, noticing this, turned her body intending to take action. However, it was too late.

Throwing the unpinned smoke grenades that the girl had prepared earlier, white smoke started to spread around the region as Shigure jumped into the smokescreen with Ushio.

"Dammit!"

Remily furiously chased after the disappearing figures. However, just as she reached there, her prey were already long gone. Scanning around through the dense white smoke, she found no hint of them.

Sighing, she started to shout into the air. "You win this time, Miyon. I will let you off the hook for now, but don't let me catch you and your other mates later. See you soon~"

Smiling, Remily decided to walk away, with the staggering Fredrick following on.

"It seemed like an Abyssal beast won't die that easily even if I hit it with the Arsenal…"

Covering both of the shipgirls' mouths, Miyon pressed herself against the wall of an abandoned shop lot. Only after a good minute after sensing that she was safe, she released her grip.

"Sorry, was I too rough?"

Both of the girls coughed as Miyon tilted her head with a stoic expression.

Coughing, Shigure shook her head. "No… Thank you… for saving us…" Shigure said.

"... Don't thank me yet. We're still in enemy territory." Miyon shrugged as she got up, unholstering her M4A1 assault rifle. "Come on, we have to move before more of them start converging into our position."

"Wait," Ushio called out. "Who are you?"

"..."

Both of the girls gave the unknown girl called Miyon quizzical looks. It took some thoughts before Miyon finally answered.

"Just think of me as a temporary commander for you all for now." Miyon said. "Let's go, we're running late for RV."

* * *

**[A/N] : **_Ney, why am I even writing A/N at here._


End file.
